Smash City - Rolling into Town

[Vize Viper]

Roll seemed... pensive for a moment, although in reality she was trying to access GPS satellites to figure out where home was...

And found herself unsuccessful. She wasn't going to be teleporting hope any time soon...

After this quiet moment, she looked up at Shelly. "I... I guess not."

Beat decided that now was a good time to wake up again, and blinked, noting that Roll's hair had changed while he was asleep.

"Kwee?"

[SHM 128 III]

Shelly was quiet as the gravity of the situation set in. While this girl she was taking care of was far from homeless, she seemed to be very lost and very far away from wherever it was she came from. What could the koopa do? She couldn't just toss the kid out, that's for sure.

"Listen... Roll..." Shelly began, fiddling with her own hair for once, "Why don't you stay with me for a few days? At least until we find out how to get you home. I've got a couch that folds out into a spare bed upstairs, and I could buy you some extra clothes so you don't have to wear those dirty ones the entire time..."

Shelly trailed off and quietly waited for Roll to respond.

[Vize Viper]

"I..." Roll couldn't say it, but she was touched by the koopa's offer, considering they'd only JUST met, and she was offering to let Roll stay with her until she could get home.

"Thank you... You've got a real heart of gold, you know that?" She giggled softly.

"I think Rock would like you." The girl smiled. "No, I know he would. I just... hope he's ok..." She moved to rub at her eyes as the realization struck her that she might NOT have a way back home, but stopped, instead clasping her hands together in front of her. Her eyes fell to the floor, as she put everything she had, or so it felt like, into NOT crying in front of Shelly.

The bird, sensing his owner's distress, fluttered over, perching (a little awkwardly) on her shoulder.

"Kwee, kwee?" The bird then pecked at a bit of loose hair, his method of trying to help her feel better.

And his reward was a soft smile from the girl, who seemed... older than she looked for a moment as she pet the bird softly.

"At least I have a little piece of home with me, huh?"

[SHM 128 III]

Shelly just put her hand on Roll's shoulder.

"It's okay... You'll find your way home, I promise. I'll do all that I can to help you. In the meantime, you can stay with me for as long as need be."

Shelly began making her way towards the stairs, motioning to Roll to follow her.

"Come on, I'll go get your bed set up."

[Vize Viper]

Roll followed the unspokeen request, and followed Shelly, Beat taking flight again and fluttering along next to her.

"I really can't thank you enough, but I just wish I could repay you somehow. It just... wouldn't seem right, otherwise, y'know?"

[SHM 128 III]

"Really, it's okay... You don't have to repay me for this. It's the right thing to do."

Shelly paused for a moment and looked once again at the station that Roll had cleaned up to spotlessness.

"Although... I could use someone to help keep the salon clean throughout the day and help put everything away at closing time. I do fine on my own, but I could always use an extra hand... But only if you want to, hun."

[Vize Viper]

The girl's eyes seemed to light up, not at the prospect of cleaning, but more that she wouldn't just be mooching off of this kind woman (regardless of species, Shelly WAS a woman).

"It's the LEAST I could do! I'll be glad to help!"

Then Beat gave Shelly a questioning look, accompanied by a curious chirp, as if asking if he could help too.

[SHM 128 III]

Shelly couldn't help but smile at Roll's eagerness to help. When she realized that Beat was also trying to 'talk' to her, Shelly petted him on the head and nodded.

"You wanna help too, don't you?" she inquired, "I'm not sure what kind of help a bird would be good at in a salon, but I'm sure you'll think of something."

After petting Beat for a moment longer, Shelly turned back to Roll and extended her hand.

"So, you can help clean up around the salon while I work, and in return, I'll let you stay with me and help you find your way home, agreed?"

[Vize Viper]

Roll just grinned, and took Shelly's hand. "Deal!"

"Kwee?" The bird chirped, looking at Roll questioningly.

And the girl just giggled at her overeager little bird. "And you can grab things for us if we need 'em, ok?"

Beat just "kwee'd" happily, and fluttered up the stairs.

[SHM 128 III]

Shelly chuckled and began to make her way up the stairs. This was the first time she had a roomate in her appartment, so she herself was actually rather excited about all of this. Granted, it was definately not the most preferable circumstances, but she would take it as it was.

"Don't worry, Roll, we'll find your way home soon enough!" Shelly assured her as she assened the stairs, slowly getting more and more excited as the realization of having a roomate hit her, "In the meantime, we'll work together down in the salon, and after closing, we can do fun stuff together! Oh yeah... Tomorrow night, I am so hooking you up with a manicure! That sound good to you?"

[Vize Viper]

Starting to get just as excited about this, although she too wished it was under better circumstances, Roll just nodded, speaking between short bursts of happy giggling.

Now that she thought about it, she was going to be away from Rock and Dr. Light, which meant, even if she was going to be helping keep a store clean, she'd STILL be doing less cleaning than she did back home, and that was enough for her to start enjoying all of this.

"A manicure sound fun, but next thing I know you're gonna be playing Truth or Dare with me!"

[SHM 128 III]

"Heh... Maybe... But first things first, we gotta go shopping! You need some new clothes, after all!"

All the while, Shelly was giggling like a girl at her first sleepover. Just a few hours before, she was expecting to have a normal evening. Now, she was laughing with a kid she found in a back alley as they discussed all the things they were going to do together while trying to find her way home. It was funny how things could change so quickly, so suddenly, and so dramaticly...

... And yet, right now, Shelly wouldn't have had it any other way.